Gastonia retained Metrocology to prepare a redevelopment plan for the City’s first enclosed shopping mall, and surrounding commercial strip centers, located just east of downtown on approximately 212 acres. Bounded by I-85 to the north and Franklin Blvd at the intersection of New Hope Rd to the south and west the Mall sits at the nexus of Greater Gastonia’s transportation network. Future light rail service from Charlotte’s Silver Line is proposed to eventually extend into Gaston County along HWY74, Franklin Blvd with a potential station by the Mall.

Metrocology worked within the City’s Comprehensive Master Plan, which called out Eastridge and surrounding developments to become a secondary center within Gastonia’s urban structure. The plan incorporates elements needed to develop a walkable transit-oriented district, or TOD, with high density residential, a mix of employment and shopping on the former Mall property. Central open spaces and connections to the County’s regional greenway system were designed to allow for non-automotive accessibility to the Center by neighborhoods nearby.